1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a remote handling apparatus for a load object, and an auxiliary apparatus thereof. More particularly the present disclosure relates to a remote handling apparatus for a load object that is operated by a joystick, and an auxiliary apparatus thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
A handling apparatus used by an operator to remotely control a target object at nuclear power generation facilities or the like has been turned into practical use. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-107188 (e.g. FIG. 12, FIG. 13) discloses a refueling machine at a nuclear power generation facility. Normally such a refueling machine includes an apparatus to control the lifting of an operation object by manual operation. In the present application, a handling apparatus for an operation object that an operator remotely operates is called “remote handling apparatus”, and the operation object is called “load object”.
Operation input devices of a remote handling apparatus that an operator directly touches are roughly classified into: a switch input device which accepts the lifting operation by a switch, such as a button, and a joystick device that accepts operation by a lever or stick. Actually in a conventional nuclear power generation facility, an operator manually operates an operation input device to lift a load object, relying on an image of the load object captured by camera and an indicated-value of the load sensor which measures the constantly changing load value of the load object.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram depicting the configuration of a conventional remote handling apparatus 7000 that uses a joystick device 710. The joystick device 710 has a stick 712 used for manual operation by an operator, and the stick 712 includes a potentiometer 714 which is a position sensor for detecting input position coordinate values based on the inclination of the stick controlled by the operator. For example, in the joystick device 710, the neutral position is the intermediate position of one input axis of the stick 712. From this neutral position as the center, one direction corresponds to ascending and the other direction corresponds to descending, and this neutral position corresponds to stopping. A controller 720 converts the input position coordinate value of the potentiometer 714 into a command signal for a motor 732 of a lifting device 730 according to this correspondence. The operation of the motor 732 is converted into operations for ascending, stopping or descending of a load object 500 via an appropriate multiplication/reduction mechanism, such as gears. The inclination of the input axis of the stick 712 of the joystick device 710, that is, the position of the input coordinate, corresponds to the velocity of ascending, stopping or descending the load object 500. A load sensor 740 for measuring the dynamic load value of the load object 500 is attached to the lifting device 730, and the value indicated by the load sensor 740 is presented on a display device 750 to the operator who is operating the joystick device 710. Images of the load object 500 and the peripheral area thereof photographed by the camera 760 are also presented to the operator on a display device 770, which is positioned at eye level directly in front of the operator.
In Fuji Electric Journal Vol. 85, Issue 1, January 2013, it is reported that a load signal, generated depending on the state of contact with a peripheral object, can be recognized as a counterforce in the joystick, so that the operator recognizes the handling state as a tactile sense.